Chapter 2
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Project X, a popular film released in 1987, gave many
Americanstheirfirstglimpseintoanimalexperimentscarried
outbytheirownarmedforces.Thefilm’splotcentersonan
airforce experiment designedto see whether chimpanzees
couldcontinueto“fly”asimulatedplaneafterbeingexposed
toradiation.Ayoungairforcecadetassignedtodutyinthe
laboratory becomes attached to one particular chimpanzee,
withwhomhecancommunicateinsignlanguage.Whenthis
chimpanzee’sturnforexposuretoradiationcomes,theyoung
man(withtheassistanceofhisattractivegirlfriend,naturally)
determines to liberate the chimpanzees.
Theplotwasfiction,buttheexperimentswerenot.Theywere
basedon experimentsthathavebeenconductedover many
yearsatBrooksAirForceBase,inTexas,andvariationsof
which arecontinuing.But filmgoers didnot getthewhole
story.Whathappenedtothechimpanzeesinthefilmwasvery
much a softened version of what really happens. So we
shouldconsidertheexperimentsthemselves,asdescribedin
documents issued by Brooks Air Force Base.
Asindicatedinthefilm,theexperimentsinvolveakind of
flight simulator. The device is known as a Primate
EquilibriumPlatform,orPEP.Itconsistsofaplatform that
canbemadetopitchandrolllikeanairplane.Themonkeys
sitinachairthatispartoftheplatform.Infrontofthemisa